Los Angeles city panel asks FDA to regulate e-cigarettes

In this photo illustration, a smoker puffs on an e-cigarette. E-cigarettes are being touted as a safe alternative to traditional lighted tobacco products. Studies are looking at the chemical makeup of the secondhand vapor which is breathed out like smoke. (AP Photo/Wichita Falls Times Record News, Torin Halsey)

In its continuing fight against e-cigarettes, a Los Angeles city panel Friday urged the Food and Drug Administration to oversee the product in an effort to ban its use in the same locations cigarettes are prohibited.

The City Council’s Rules and Elections Committee urged the full council to back its proposal, saying the e-cigarettes contain ingredients harmful to the public.

The action is the latest by the council to try to regulate e-cigarettes, which have gained in popularity in recent years. Last year, the council voted to limit their sales to minors, and it is looking at extending its ban on where the devices can be used.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said L.A. needs to act because of the need for “controls to the many unknowns of this product.

“The city must join with the rising chorus of voices that call for sensible regulations of this product, including the Association of Attorney Generals and the American Lung Association,” O’Farrell said.

Jason Healy, president of blu eCigs, was surprised by the council action. “The FDA has already said it plans to oversee e-cigarettes, they just need to develop the regulations,” Healy said.

He questioned the council’s efforts to ban the product before they fully know its impact. “I can see where banning e-cigarettes could lead to an increase in smoking regular cigarettes,” Healy said.

“I think some of their actions could force a relapse for people who are trying to quit smoking.”

Manufacturers of the e-cigarettes have argued their product is an alternative to traditional cigarettes designed to help adult smokers looking to quit tobacco use.

Several of the companies have urged the city to do more study on the product before taking steps to ban it.